What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2021) with… Nice Girl? (1941)

For today’s movie review, we’ve got a movie doing double-duty again, both as a recent Blu-ray release as well as starting off my Musicals: With A Song And A Dance In My Heart blogathon! That film, of course, is the 1941 musical Nice Girl? starring Deanna Durbin!

Coming Up Shorts! with… Bear Shooters (1930)

(available on Blu-ray as part of The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1 (1929-1930) from ClassicFlix)

(Length: 20 minutes, 29 seconds)

The gang all go camping to hunt bears, but they unknowingly come across a pair of bootleggers who try to scare them off. While it’s not quite as good as some of the previous few Little Rascals shorts, this one was still quite entertaining. Of course, this one provides the laughs through two gags: Chubby (Norman Chaney) putting limburger cheese on the sick Wheezer (Bobby Hutchins) instead of the grease he was supposed to, and one of the bootleggers dressed up as a gorilla. The gang are also joined by Leon Janney as “Spud” (apparently a one-time appearance), who is a rather forgettable character. Still, like the others that I’ve seen so far, it was fun, and worth seeing!

And Now For The Main Feature…

In the town of Stillwater, Connecticut lives high school principal Oliver Dana (Robert Benchley) and his three daughters. His oldest, Sylvia (Anne Gwynne), is a wannabe actress. His youngest, Nancy (Ann Gillis), likes to flirt with some of the boys (to the point of them physically fighting over her). His middle daughter, Jane (Deanna Durbin), helps him out with some of his dietary experiments. Jane resents her “nice girl” image, especially since her boyfriend, Don Webb (Robert Stack), seems to pay more attention to his car than to her. Due to the dietary experiments that he is working on, Oliver is being considered for a fellowship by the Van de Meer Foundation. They send their field man, Richard Calvert (Franchot Tone), to see for sure whether he merits it. As Richard turns out to be younger (and better-looking) than they had imagined, all three girls start vying for his attentions. Jane in particular attempts to impress him, although her attempts don’t quite work out. When Richard has to go back to New York ahead of a proposed trip to Australia, Jane volunteers to drive him. Since Don is working on her car, he offers to let her drive his car. When Don tells her that he would trust her no matter what she does, she is infuriated and decides to try to do something about her “nice girl” image. Using an idea she had gotten from something he had shown her before, she delays the car (without Richard knowing), which causes him to miss his train. In the process, she offers to drive him all the way back. On the way, they encounter a rainstorm (and, of course, the car malfunctions), resulting in them getting drenched. At Richard’s home, they both change clothes, and she attempts to seduce him. However, when Jane overhears him on the phone with his mother (in which he says that she is just “one of the Dana girls”), she feels foolish and leaves immediately for home. She arrives in town in the early morning, where she runs out of gas and accidentally wakes everybody in town up when the car’s horn gets stuck. Of course, that sets everyone’s tongues to wagging, and she locks herself in her room. She manages to tell her father the truth of what happened later, to which he is relieved. However, at the town’s charity bazaar, the gossip continues to flow, with everyone coming to the conclusion that she and Richard are engaged. Don hears the gossip, but doesn’t believe a word of it, and tells Jane so when she arrives. Furious at the fact that he is taking her for granted, she proceeds to tell everyone that the news of her “engagement” is true. Richard has also just arrived in town to tell Oliver that he is getting the fellowship, but, upon learning of the gossip, decides to go along with it. With some now pushing for an immediate ceremony, though, can they get out of this jam (especially since Jane realizes that she loves Don)?

Nice Girl? was based on a play called Nice Girl by Phyllis Duganne. The slight change in title was a reflection of actress Deanna Durbin being cast in the film. The young Deanna, who had up to this point been playing young girls, turned nineteen during the production of this film. As such, she was now making the transition into adult roles, and the film’s producers decided to add the question mark to the title to make it more ambiguous about whether she was indeed a “nice girl” (as her screen image had essentially been). When all was said and done, the movie essentially had three different endings: one where she sang the song “Thank You America” (which was the original one shown to U.S. audiences), one with her instead doing the song “There’ll Always Be an England,” which was mainly intended for their audience in the U.K., and a third version with her singing “Thank You America” in Spanish (for the Latin American countries).

As I’ve previously indicated, I had very little experience with Deanna Durbin prior to this year (outside of her being mentioned briefly in That’s Entertainment). Earlier this year, I experienced three of her films for the first time (and enjoyed all three quite a bit). Now, two of them, I mainly enjoyed for the stories and the performances, with the music not really sticking with me that much (although she certainly had a wonderful singing voice to handle it). With It Started With Eve, however, I found myself not only enjoying the story and her performance, but also at least the song “When I Sing.” Nice Girl? follows the trend of that film, not only with a good story and good performances, but also some very enjoyable music! I certainly know I enjoyed her opening song “Perhaps” quite well. But, the film’s best musical moment for me, was when she sang “Swanee River.” I’ve been hearing that song (and numerous versions of it) since I was a child, with my favorite being Bing Crosby’s version from the film Mississippi. However, with her voice, the chorus, and the overall orchestration, I found myself REALLY enjoying this version, and I would say it’s one of my favorite moments from her films so far!

Of course, I’ve enjoyed the comedy from her films as well, and this one still had it in spades! Admittedly, the best moments are when Franchot Tone’s Richard Calvert arrives at the Dana home, and all the girls start making themselves up for him (and never let him finish his story). Then, there’s later that evening, where they’re doing their exercises before going to bed (and he’s in the next room doing the same), and they talk about him (and how old they think he is), when he knocks on the door to tell them his age (and they then scurry off to bed). Honestly, both of those moments left me in stitches! Overall, this was a wonderful film, well-supported by a great cast, and it’s one I have zero hesitation in recommending!

This movie is available on Blu-ray from Universal Studios. The transfer on this release is pretty good. Most of the dust and dirt has been cleaned up. There is an occasional speck or scratch, but nothing serious enough to ruin the enjoyment of this film. Sadly, of the three endings I mentioned, this release only contains the U.S. one (with her singing “Thank You America” to the troops), but, to be fair, this was one of nine titles originally licensed out to Kino Lorber Studio Classics (and one of the six that they dropped when the first set of three sold so poorly), so I’m grateful to be getting this one at all! It is a wonderful release, and highly recommended!

Film Length: 1 hour, 35 minutes

My Rating: 10/10

*ranked #5 in Top 10 Movies Watched In 2021

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) – Deanna Durbin – It Started With Eve (1941)

Mutiny On The Bounty (1935) – Franchot Tone – Because Of Him (1946)

The Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939) – Walter Brennan – Sergeant York (1941)

Robert Stack – To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

Dancing Lady (1933) – Robert Benchley – You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)

Swing Time (1936) – Helen Broderick – Because Of Him (1946)

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An Old-Fashioned Christmas Movie On The Farm (2021) & “Star Of The Month (August 2021)” Featuring Barbara Stanwyck in… The Bride Wore Boots (1946)

I’m back for one last turn with this month’s Star, and that would be Barbara Stanwyck’s 1946 comedy The Bride Wore Boots, which also stars Robert Cummings and Diana Lynn!

Coming Up Shorts! with… Congratulations It’s Pink (1967)

(available on Blu-ray and DVD as part of The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 (1966-1968) from Kino Lorber)

(Length: 6 minutes, 12 seconds)

The Pink Panther steals a basket from some campers, only to find it has a baby in it and not food. This is another fun cartoon, with the gags varying between the Panther trying to palm off the baby, and then, once he realizes that he’s stuck with it, how he takes care of it. I know I get a chuckle out of him “milking” the milk truck like a cow (only for a cow to peek out a moment after he finishes)! It’s very enjoyable, and one I enjoy coming back to! The only complaint I have is that the audio seems a bit distorted (at least on the Blu-ray, anyway), although not so bad as to completely ruin seeing it.

And Now For The Main Feature…

After seven years of marriage, Sally (Barbara Stanwyck) and Jeff Warren (Robert Cummings) find themselves at odds over their various interests. Sally is running a horse farm with her partner (and former flame, which certainly bugs Jeff) Lance Gale (Patric Knowles), whereas Jeff doesn’t really like horses (and, although he tries to ride, is frequently thrown by even the gentlest horses). Meanwhile, Jeff is an historian and author of books on the old South, with groups of (mostly older) women who like to have him lecture at their meetings and send him various Civil War artifacts (and Sally resents the feminine interest, regardless of age, as well as the artifacts cluttering up the house). Jeff and Sally still love each other, though, and try to get along. For Christmas, Jeff tries to give Sally a horse named Albert (which he has been told is a good horse), but it turns out that he was suckered into buying an older horse that wouldn’t be able to race (an opportunity that Lance uses to pick on him, before they both fight each other). As her gift to Jeff, Sally tried to give him a desk that belonged to Jefferson Davis, but, she also is humiliated later when a group of women (for whom Jeff will be giving a lecture shortly) bring him a gift of a stuffed Confederate horse, and they reveal it to be a fake. What’s worse, one of their younger members, Mary Lou Medford (Diana Lynn), takes a shine to Jeff and kisses him under the mistletoe. Sally sees this, and threatens to leave him, but he convinces her to go with him to a convention (where he has to give a speech), hoping to make a second honeymoon of it. However, Mary Lou is also there, and kisses him again (which Sally sees). This time, Sally has had enough, and demands a divorce. When Jeff advertises for a secretary to help him write a new book, Mary Lou shows up and gets rid of the other applicants to take the job herself (which Jeff very hesitantly goes along with after she manipulates him). Sally had taken custody of their children in the divorce, but (since she is still in love with Jeff), she decides to send them Jeff’s way to help disrupt Mary Lou’s attempts at seducing Jeff. Meanwhile, the horse Albert has taken a shine to Jeff, and he decides to take up riding, in order to train Albert for the upcoming Virginia Challenge Cup (a steeplechase that Sally and her family had been trying to win for a long time). Of course, Mary Lou doesn’t like this, and arranges for Jeff to go on a lecture tour (and plans to go with him). Seeing this, Sally’s uncle, Tod (Robert Benchley) and her mother, Grace Apley (Peggy Wood), conspire to have her children eat so much as to make themselves sick. When they both hear about the children, Sally and Jeff rush right over. Sally quickly wises up to her mother’s tricks, but she keeps quiet about it since she still loves Jeff. Jeff decides not to go on the lecture tour (which results in Mary Lou breaking up with him), and he decides to ride Albert in the Virginia Challenge Cup, especially when he hears about Lance’s plan to propose to Sally if he wins. But, can Jeff, a very untrained rider, win the Cup and Sally’s heart again?

For what (sadly) turned out to be Barbara Stanwyck’s last feature comedy, she does quite well with her role here! I love how her character tries to love her husband, and yet, it’s hard not to feel for her when we see him go wrong. Of course, she is, in her own ways, rather devious, as she tries to get back at him for the “trouble” he causes. And she is quick to recognize that same quality in others, like when her mother tries to get them her and her husband back together (of course, she wants that, too, so no way will she mention that to her husband 😉 ). She does quite well with the film’s humor, which, to me, makes it disappointing that writers couldn’t come up with anything good comedy-wise for her after this film.

The movie evens qualifies, to some degree, as a Christmas movie, which adds to its appeal for me! Now, I know we’re mostly talking about the Christmas stuff happening in the first half hour before moving on, but it has enough importance to the rest of the film, in between Jeff’s (Robert Cummings) gift of a horse to his wife, the mistletoe (which is the start of his marital woes), and the stuffed horse that comes into play here and there. Of course, the film has more than just Christmas in its favor, as I like the comedic performances, too! Robert Cummings does well with his comedy bits (and, from what I’ve read, even did some of his own stunts in the steeplechase)! Robert Benchley as the Uncle Tod (whom the kids really like) and Peggy Wood as Sally’s (Barbara Stanwyck) mother add to the humor, especially when they get to scheming a little themselves. Willie Best is here, too, in what feels like one of his less-stereotyped roles, which at least doesn’t take away from it. The steeplechase scene does manage to be one of the more amusing horse races I’ve seen (at least for those that stay normal without getting screwy like the Marx Brothers). I will admit, I’ve seen much better horse/horseracing films, but the cast for this one makes it entertaining enough that I would love to keep coming back to it every now and then (especially at Christmastime)! So, yes, recommended by me!

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2020) with… The Bride Wore Boots (1946)

This movie is available on Blu-ray as part of the three film Barbara Stanwyck Collection from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. As usual, this one is sporting an HD scan. This one looks quite good, with most of the dirt and debris cleaned up. There are a few minor instances of scratches and the like, but overall, it’s as good as one could hope for!

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2020) with… Barbara Stanwyck Collection

The Barbara Stanwyck Collection includes Internes Can’t Take Money, The Great Man’s Lady and The Bride Wore Boots. All three films have HD scans that look quite good, outside of minor dust and dirt here and there. I think the set is worth it for all three films, as, while not seemingly among Barbara’s best-known films, each one of them still allows her to give a great performance as part of some very entertaining movies. Easily a worthwhile set to look into!

Whew! Now that we’re done with all that, I can safely say that this ends my month-long celebration of actress Barbara Stanwyck (well, it does for me, as my next posts will be in the month of September)! So join me again on Wednesday, September 1, as I move on to the second-to-last blogathon I am hosting this year (and on my favorite film genre, no less), Musicals: With A Song And A Dance In My Heart!

Film Length: 1 hour, 27 minutes

My Rating: 9/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Christmas In Connecticut (1945) – Barbara Stanwyck – Titanic (1953)

It Started With Eve (1941) – Robert Cummings – Stagecoach (1966)

Road To Utopia (1946) – Robert Benchley

Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) – Natalie Wood – Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

The Great Man’s Lady (1942) – Barbara Stanwyck Collection

Film Legends Of Yesteryear (2021): Rita Hayworth in… You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)

Well, it’s February 17, and it’s time for another post of “Film Legends Of Yesteryear” featuring actress Rita Hayworth! This time, it’s her 1941 film You’ll Never Get Rich (which will be celebrating its 80th anniversary later this year), which also co-stars Fred Astaire! But, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, as we’ve got a theatrical short to start everything off!

Coming Up Shorts! with… Little Rural Riding Hood (1949)

(Available on Blu-ray and DVD as part of Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 from Warner Archive Collection)

(Length: 6 minutes, 19 seconds)

The city wolf invites his country cousin to the city, but cannot stop him from chasing after girls. It’s yet another take on the “Little Red Riding Hood” story by Tex Avery, although this time he throws in a parody of “The Country Mouse And The City Mouse” as well! The gags may be similar to the previous Red Riding Hood Tex Avery cartoons, what with all the wolf whistling and howling, etc. but it’s still a lot of fun! I’ll admit, it feels weird hearing Pinto Colvig voicing the country wolf, since I very much associate his voice with the Disney character Goofy, and what with all the girl chasing that his character does, it’s just so completely different from what I’m used to. But, no matter how weird it is to hear a different character with his voice, this cartoon is certainly worth a few good laughs!

And Now For The Main Feature…

Theatre owner Martin Cortland (Robert Benchley) has a thing for chasing after some of the ladies in his shows. His current target is dancer Sheila Winthrop (Rita Hayworth), and he buys her a diamond bracelet. However, she refuses it when he isn’t looking, and his wife, Julia (Frieda Inescort), finds it. He tries to alibi by saying that he bought it for his choreographer, Robert Curtis (Fred Astaire), who wanted to give it to Sheila. Julia doesn’t believe him, and threatens him with divorce. So, Martin tries to get Robert to help cover for him by going out with Sheila and giving her the bracelet (in front of Martin and Julia, of course). At first, Sheila is thrilled to go out with Robert since she has a crush on him, but when he gives her the bracelet, she leaves in a huff. However, a newspaperman had taken a photo of the two, and the next day, the headlines were that the two were practically engaged. Robert goes to her apartment to straighten everything out, but her boyfriend, Tom Barton (John Hubbard), decides to play a trick on Robert, chasing him away. He returns to the theatre, where Martin tells him that he has been drafted, much to Robert’s delight. Of course, even in the army, Robert finds himself in trouble when he dreams of Sheila and slugs the top sergeant (Donald MacBride), resulting in him being sent to the guardhouse. While he is in there, he sees Sheila outside, and tries to pass himself off as a captain inspecting the guardhouse (but, of course, she doesn’t believe him). When he gets out, he “borrows” a captain’s uniform to go visit her, but he finds himself in trouble when he discovers that Tom is a captain (and that he had “borrowed” the uniform of one of his friends). He is sent back to the guardhouse, but he is starting to get back in Sheila’s good graces again. While he is in there, Martin comes to see Colonel Shiller (Boyd Davis) and offers to put on a show for the men, with Robert’s help. Robert is enthusiastic about the idea, but he quickly learns that Martin plans to have his new mistress, Sonya (Osa Massen), be the leading lady for the show. Robert quickly puts the kibosh on that and casts Sheila instead. However, with Sonya pushing, Martin tries a different angle, by framing it so that it looks like Robert and Sonya are having an affair. At first, Sheila doesn’t believe it, but when she sees Robert’s surprise gift of the bracelet (you know, the one that started the whole mess) with Sonya’s name on it (Martin’s doing), she decides to leave both Robert and the show. To get revenge on Martin, Robert calls his wife Julia and has her come down to visit. With Sonya out of the picture, Robert convinces his friends Kewpie Blain (Guinn Williams) and Swivel Tongue (Cliff Nazarro) to create a word-of-mouth demand for Sheila to come back in the show. But, with Martin reticent to say anything about what really transpired, can Robert convince Sheila of the truth?

In 1941, Rita Hayworth was an up-and-coming star. She had scored some hits with the movies The Strawberry Blonde (for Warner Brothers) and Blood And Sand (for 20th Century Fox). But, she was under contract to Columbia Pictures (which hadn’t figured out what to do with her yet), and those two films were loan outs to rival studios. Not only that, she had been dancing professionally for years, having learned under her father Eduardo Cansino, but movie audiences didn’t exactly know it. So, when she was cast opposite famed dancer Fred Astaire (a friend of her father’s from vaudeville), she was finally given a chance to show what she could do. Not too far into the movie, they danced together, and she shows everyone that she is able to keep up with him quite easily. You’ll Never Get Rich was a success, propelling her to superstardom, and she was teamed up with Fred one more time a year later for You Were Never Lovelier.

You’ll Never Get Rich was one of three Fred Astaire musicals with a score provided by composer Cole Porter (four, if you count the song “Night And Day” being the only tune retained from the Broadway show for the film The Gay Divorcee). Of the three, I consider this the weaker score, but it’s still a lot of fun, and one or two songs usually get stuck in my head every time I watch it! And I’m certain to get a few good laughs out of Cliff Nazarro’s character of Swivel Tongue, who is prone to speaking in “double talk,” confusing some of the people he talks to. He even gets a shot at speaking it when drilling some of the other recruits (in a bit that reminds me strongly of Abbott and Costello’s “Drill Bit” routine from Buck Privates)! Sure, some things haven’t aged well, such as Robert Benchley’s theatre owner/producer and his reliance on the “casting couch” (not literal here, just referring to his chasing after some of the female cast members and offering them better roles), not to mention the wedding near the end of the movie (a little too much of a spoiler to say much else). However, it’s still a fun musical, and one I enjoy sticking on every now and then! So, I would certainly recommend seeing it!

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2020) with You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)

This movie is available on Blu-ray as part of the twelve film Rita Hayworth: The Ultimate Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment or individually from Twilight Time. I think both Blu-rays use the same transfer (with minor differences, if any), which is quite good. Personally, I prefer the Twilight Time release, but, for the price and overall content, the twelve film collection from Mill Creek will do in a pinch.

Film Length: 1 hour, 29 minutes

My Rating: 9/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940) – Fred Astaire – Holiday Inn (1942)

Music In My Heart (1940) – Rita Hayworth – You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Nice Girl? (1941) – Robert Benchley – The Major And The Minor (1942)

Music In My Heart (1940) – Rita Hayworth: The Ultimate Collection – Tonight And Every Night (1945)

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2019) with… The Major And The Minor (1942)

Now we have another delightful comedy, the classic 1942 film The Major And The Minor starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland.

After being in New YorkCity for a year and not getting anyplace in work, Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) decides to return home by train to Stevenson, Iowa. However, the money she had saved for the trip was not enough, due to a recent rate increase. After watching a mother and her two children buy tickets, she decides to try making herself look younger so she could buy a half-fare ticket. She manages to get the ticket, but the train conductors are suspicious of her. When they catch her smoking and give chase, she avoids them by ducking into the drawing room of Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland). Due to his “bum eye,” he perceives her as the little girl she is pretending to be, and offers her a berth for the night. The next morning, some flooding delays the train, and Philip’s fiancee Pamela Hill (Rita Johnson), along with her father (and Philip’s commanding officer) Colonel Oliver Slater Hill (Edward Fielding), come to get him. They find Susan (or “Su-Su” as she is calling herself) in Philip’s compartment, and leave in a huff. Philip, realizing he is in trouble, convinces Su-Su to come with him to the Wallace Military Institute to help him out. He gets out of trouble, and Su-Su is offered a room with Pamela’s younger sister, Lucy (Diana Lynn). Lucy quickly figures out Susan is older than she is pretending to be, and enlists her help. Philip has just returned from Washington, where he had been trying to get back into active service instead of just teaching the young cadets at the Institute, but, behind his back, Pamela had been trying to prevent him getting into active service. Lucy wants to help him out. After dealing with the young cadets, Susan is able to impersonate Pamela on the switchboard for one of her friends with a husband who is high-up in the military. At the school dance, Philip receives word that he had gotten his transfer. Susan plans to reveal herself to him after the dance, but Pamela had discovered the truth, and blackmails Susan into leaving without telling Philip anything.

The Major And The Minor was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder. He, along with his co-writer Charles Brackett, had written a number of movies together, but he had yearned to direct some of his movies, especially since some of the stuff he had written got vetoed by some of the actors and directors he had worked with. Finally given a chance, he decided to do a movie that would have some commercial appeal, so that it wouldn’t be his last. Ginger Rogers was who he wanted for the part, and she liked both the script and the idea of him as a director. For her, the story was a familiar concept, as she had lived that way when she was younger, trying to make herself appear a little younger when traveling with her mother so that she could get half-fare tickets due to lack of funds (although, admittedly, that was probably when she was still young enough that she could actually pull it off).

Now, I know that this movie is not for everyone. As much as the movie relies on the idea that a woman in her mid-20s (the character’s age, not Ginger’s, as she was about 30 at this time) could pass for a 12-year-old, it does strain credibility. Although, to be fair, the train conductors are suspicious from the start, Diana Lynn’s Lucy figures it out quickly, and Rita Johnson’s Pamela and her father assume her to be an adult woman until they are given context by Ray Milland’s Philip. Of course, the young cadets are another problem, considering most of them would (and SHOULD) get in trouble, especially in today’s “Me too” culture. It’s hard to know how to feel about Major Kirby, considering we do see him develop an attraction to the “12-year-old” Su-Su, but at the same time, we do see how it also bothers him a bit (heck, in some ways, their relationship almost reminds me of Mulan and Shang from the animated Disney film).

In spite of those issues, I really enjoy this movie. For me, it is worth watching for Ginger Rogers alone (and I would be hard-pressed to try the 1955 remake You’re Never Too Young with Jerry Lewis in Ginger’s role). This movie does have many fun moments, whether they be when she is buying her ticket at the train station, or dealing with the train conductors, or trying to deal with the cadets on the switchboard. And while I’m not fond of the cadets trying to put the move on her, it is funny to see her use the same strategy on Major Kirby at the end of the movie. This is definitely a movie of another time, when things were more innocent and kids could potentially be safer when traveling alone, or somebody else could be more helpful without being dangerous. I always enjoy watching this movie, and I would easily recommend trying it out (at least, if you can get past some of the issues I mentioned before)!

This movie is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Films and previously released on DVD by Universal Studios. The Blu-ray release from Arrow looks fantastic, in my opinion. Sure, there are maybe a few scratches here and there, but otherwise the transfer is as good as I could hope for! So far, this is my first disc from Arrow, and if their other releases look this good (as I’ve heard), then I look forward to more from this label!

Film Length: 1 hour, 40 minutes

My Rating: 10/10

*ranked #4 in Top 10 Disc Releases Of 2019

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Roxie Hart (1942) – Ginger Rogers – Once Upon A Honeymoon (1942)

Robert Benchley – I Married A Witch (1942)

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2019) with… Road To Utopia (1946)

We’re back for the fourth road trip with Road To Utopia with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour!

In flashback, we are told of how Sal’s (Dorothy Lamour) lawyer is murdered by two criminals, Sperry and McGurk, who steal a map to an Alaskan gold mine, and Sal gets on the first ship to Alaska to try to head them off. Meanwhile, a pair of song-and-dance con men, Duke Johnson (Bing Crosby) and Chester Hooton (Bob Hope), end up on a later ship to Alaska (after Duke cons Chester into going along). However, Chester shoves their money out a porthole (mistaking it for a safe), and they have to work their way over. While cleaning the room occupied by Sperry and McGurk, they find the map. Subduing the two criminals, they assume their identities to get off the boat. Sal, having already made it to the town of Skagway, has turned to her father’s friend Ace Larson (Douglas Dumbrille) for help (although he secretly wants the mine for himself). Duke and Chester also come to Skagway, where, as Sperry and McGurk, they are big men in town and gain Sal’s attention as she tries to get the map from them. However, Duke and Chester quickly find themselves on the run when the real Sperry and McGurk come gunning for them (not to mention some of Ace Larson’s goons, too).

While this may be the fourth movie in the series, the laughs are still coming hard and fast! We get a second go-round of “talking” animals (achieved by mainly animating the lips). Then we have the guys defining their relationship even further, with Bing’s Duke now even more willing to con Bob’s Chester (as exemplified by Chester feeling the need to count his fingers after shaking hands with Duke, or watching them pickpocket the same wallet from each other). Then, of course, there are their quips, lampooning each other and a lot of other things, including the censors! And who could forget Bob literally getting steamed up when Dottie is singing to him? Of course, these are just a handful of wonderful moments in a movie full of them.

A lot of what I’ve read seems to indicate that most feel that this movie is right up there with Road To Morocco as one of the best, if not the best, movies in the Road series. Personally, I disagree with that. I do like this movie, that I will admit. But at the same time, I do miss them doing their “patty-cake” routine (since this is the ONLY film in the series that they don’t do it at least once), and their reliance on the old “literally pull the rug out from under the bad guys” schtick instead of it just doesn’t work for me. That, and, to a degree, some of the movie’s suspense is removed just by the fact that the movie starts with the three leads (in old age makeup) as they tell the story of how they came to be separated for many years. To be fair, these are minor quibbles, as I do still enjoy this movie. This is the one in the series that modern viewers might have the easiest time with as it has the fewest issues with being politically correct (since it only takes place in Noth America, starting in San Francisco and moving to Alaska). So, yes, I would recommend this one for a good laugh!

The movie is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber (and has been available on DVD from Universal for a number of years). As to the Blu-ray, I think it looks very good, possibly the best-looking transfer of the first four movies with few, if any, defects. Certainly the method of viewing I would recommend!

Film Length: 1 hour, 30 minutes

My Rating: 7/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

The Bells Of St. Mary’s (1944) (original review of The Bells Of St. Mary’s) (update) – Bing Crosby – Blue Skies (1946)

Road To Morocco (1942) – Bob Hope – My Favorite Brunette (1947)

Road To Morocco (1942) – Dorothy Lamour – My Favorite Brunette (1947)

The Sky’s The Limit (1943) – Robert Benchley – The Bride Wore Boots (1946)

Road To Singapore (1940) – Jerry Colonna – Make Mine Music (1946)

Road To Morocco (1942) – Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour (screen team) – My Favorite Brunette (1947)

Thoughts From The Music(al) Man (2018) on… The Sky’s The Limit (1943)

Fred Astaire: “Couldn’t I be the fellow who never gets his name mentioned? The one they call a friend? You know, uh, Ginger Rogers and friend?”
–The Sky’s the Limit

Here we are again for another Fred Astaire musical, the 1943 movie The Sky’s The Limit, also starring Joan Leslie and Robert Benchley.

In this movie set during the second World War, Fred Astaire plays Fred Atwell, a Flying Tiger on leave for ten days. Finding himself stuck going on a personal tour due to the success of his squadron, he decides to leave and have some fun instead. Going incognito as Fred Burton, he comes to New York, where he meets Joan Manion (Joan Leslie), a photographer for Eyeful Magazine, who wants to do more than just fluff photos of celebrities at the clubs. He follows her around, and tries to ask her out on a date. At first, she resists him, but she slowly warms up to him. While out working at the canteen for servicemen, Fred runs into some of his squadron, whom he tries to convince not to tell who he is. Running into them reminds him his leave is nearly over, and of what he has to return to, so Fred decides to try helping Joan’s boss, who also has feelings for Joan.

Admittedly, this movie barely qualifies as a musical, with only three new songs from the songwriting team of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. These songs include My Shining Hour, A Lot In Common With You, and One For My Baby (And One More For The Road). My Shining Hour is first sung in a nightclub, and later used as background music for a romantic duet between Fred and Joan. A Lot In Common With You is a performance from Fred and Joan at the serviceman’s canteen, where she works sometimes. One For My Baby, however, is the highlight of the movie. It’s Fred’s tap solo, and it is considered one of his best solo routines. It’s done in a bar, as he is smarting over the loss of Joan, and ends up smashing up a lot of drinking glasses and the bar’s mirror, before paying the bar owner and leaving.

The movie itself was intended as a bit of a departure for Fred. Up to this point, critics complained that he was more or less playing the same type of character, and he attempted to change that. Obviously, he is a bit of a stalker for the first part of the movie, which may bother some of the ladies, but I’d like to think he makes up for it in the second half, when he is reminded of the war he has to go back to, and tries to help her boss out. This is a wonderful movie, and one I do recommend if you have the chance to see it!

The movie is available on DVD from Warner Archive Collection.

Film Length: 1 hour, 30 minutes

My Rating: 10/10

*ranked #4 in Top 11 Movies Watched in 2018

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

You Were Never Lovelier (1942) – Fred Astaire – Ziegfeld Follies (1945)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) – Joan Leslie – Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)

I Married A Witch (1942) – Robert Benchley – Road To Utopia (1946)

Robert Ryan – On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941) – Eric Blore – Romance On The High Seas (1948)

Thoughts From The Music(al) Man (2018) on… I Married A Witch (1942)

Since I Married A Witch has been requested, I shall indeed delve into this movie. It is a movie I had not previously heard of. Sometimes I am prone to looking up movies on Amazon for various actors and actresses I have heard of, and seeing what is available (particularly on Blu-ray). This movie I came across when I was looking up actress Veronica Lake. Upon looking it up, I found it was described as being a screwball comedy (a genre I have come to REALLY enjoy the last few years, at least from that era of movies, anyways). I also found it was listed as being one of several movies that originally inspired the creator of the classic sitcom Bewitched, so I definitely thought it would be worth trying. The movie stars Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Cecil Kellaway, Susan Hayward, and Robert Benchley.

Of course, we have to start off with the requisite description of the plot. We first start back in the time of the Puritans, after a girl, Jennifer (Veronica Lake) and her father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway) have been burned at the stake, being accused by Jonathan Wooley (Fredric March), and then their ashes were buried beneath a tree to trap their spirits. Before they were burned, Jennifer cursed Jonathan and his future descendants with being “unlucky in love” (translation: marrying the wrong person). We see a few snippets of Jonathan’s descendants through time (all played by March), up until the present day (well, for when this movie was made). We find the current Wooley, Wallace, running for governor, and engaged to be married the day before the election, to the spoiled Estelle, (Susan Hayward) the daughter of his chief political backer. There is a lightning storm, which hits the tree, letting Jennifer and Daniel loose as puffs of smoke, who decide to wreak havoc on Wallace. They are limited to being those puffs of smoke, except by creating a body through a fire, so Jennifer starts a fire on a hotel, which Wallace is passing by. He hears her, and goes in to save her. From then on, she starts being a problem to him, and falls for him, which her father does not like (Any further details should be supplied by watching the movie).

So, now we get to my assessment of the movie. After one viewing, all I can say is that I heartily recommend the movie! Is it my favorite screwball comedy? No, that honor would probably go to the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical Carefree (if anybody can read that entire statement and still ask me why, you don’t know me very well, do you). But this movie is still very enjoyable (and still clear proof of why I enjoy screwball comedies of this era), with a lot of the humor stemming from her popping up everywhere and causing him havoc. In particular, I most enjoyed the attempted wedding between Wallace and Estelle, which just gets funnier the longer it goes on! The special effects are about what I would expect to find in either of the sixties sitcoms Bewitched or I Dream Of Jeannie, which still works well here. Obviously, we can easily see Jennifer and Wallace getting together by the end of the movie, but the journey of the movie is the fun, and this movie is not short of that, so I would heartily recommend it to anybody (especially for some Halloween fun)!

The movie is available on either Blu-ray or DVD from the Criterion Collection (and therefore a little more expensive, but worth it to me), and I think Amazon may have it to either rent or download for those who don’t want/ need the disc.

Film Length: 1 hour, 16 minutes

My Rating: 8/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

Nothing Sacred (1937) – Fredric March

Sullivan’s Travels (1941) – Veronica Lake – The Blue Dahlia (1946)

The Major And The Minor (1942) – Robert Benchley – The Sky’s The Limit (1943)